Battle of Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte

The Battle of Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte occurred on 16 June 1944 during Operation Overlord in World War II. The battle saw the US 82nd Airborne Division, with the help of a regiment of the US 9th Infantry Division and a tank battalion, capture the fortress of Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte from the Germans.

The Americans were preparing to take Cherbourg by mid-June 1944, and they initially planned to advance up the western coast of the Cotentin Peninsula. The 82nd Airborne was ordered to secure the town of Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte, a fortress that stood in the way of the Allied advance. At 5:00 AM on 16 June 1944, Roy E. Lindquist's 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment rushed to attack the German defenses on the heights to the east of the village, but the German 265th Infantry Division's resolute defense prevented them from breaking through. The 325th Glider Infantry Regiment and a tank squadron succeeded in breaking through the German front lines, and 82nd Airborne commander Matthew Ridgway ordered the 325th's 1st Battalion under Major Teddy H. Sanford to cross the bridge and secure the approaches southwest of Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte. The Germans, who, by that point, had largely retreated, did not offer much resistance. The American sappers succeeded in creating a crossing point over the Douve River, and US forces crossed the Douve at Saint-Sauveur a day later.

The battle was notable for the participation of some volunteers from other units. A squad of paratroops from the US 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment commanded by Sergeant Joseph Hartsock, who had been dispatched by Lieutenant-Colonel Patrick F. Cassidy to deliver captured German plans to the 82nd, volunteered to assist the 82nd in its push into town. They failed to capture a bridge on the right flank of the St. Sauveur mill house after the 6th Fallschirmjaeger Regiment blew the bridge, and the American armor was held back by Flak 88 guns. However, Hartsock's squad succeeded in eliminating the Flak guns and enabled the 82nd to move into town. The 502nd squad proceeded to battle its way through the war-torn streets of Saint-Sauveur, fighting house-to-house and clearing the Germans of the elite 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division from their various defensive positions. They had to outflank several machine-gun and tank positions before eliminating the guns and blasting the tanks with captured Panzerschrecks. The tanks inflicted heavy losses on the Americans, but the paratroops succeeded in destroying several of them before setting off orange flares, requesting air and ground support. It was at this point that the Americans destroyed the German garrison of Saint-Sauveur.

The capture of St. Sauveur enabled the US Army's infantry divisions to advance on to Cherbourg, which fell on 30 June 1944 after a long siege. Colonel S.L.A. Marshall would refer to Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte as "the fortress on the hill" after the battle, having interviewed Hartsock and several other US soldiers who had fought at the battle.